In the process of boning a carcass, the external fat layer is removed. During this process, a significant amount of lean meat can be cut from the carcass and discarded with the fat. This process leads to a significant loss of lean meat. To recover the lean meat, the discarded fat was heated and processed in a centrifuge to separate the fat from the lean meat. The lean meat was then frozen and chipped into small flakes. The finished product, known as Lean Finely Textured Beef (hereinafter “LFTB”) could later be added to ground beef, for example. The temperature of the LFTB during the separation process is not high enough and long enough to kill bacteria. As a result, pathogens and bacteria that are present on the surfaces of the carcass prior to boning can result in bacteria being present in the LFTB.